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I
knew their'rlglita.and were not afraid
to;fight for'thenu
Go out "Back b' the Yards" now,
and "what do you find?
There is hardly one .Irishman or
German left working in the yards.
The entire crew of 6Of0Q0 now is
made' Up of men and women, boys
and girls, from Southeastern Europe
t Poles, they are called here, and
that means that they are Russian,
Sloyak, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Bo
hemian, Roumanian, Ruthenlan, Cro
tian, iGalecian, Bulgarian, Austrian
and- Gefeah'Pples.
They were brought here by the
packers and the shipping trust, who
worked in harmony to the one .end.
The rule at the jards is that a"
newly-arrived immigrant .shall be
given; the preference over a native
American.
That is the way-In which the pack
ers have prevented organization since
thegrjeat strike of 1904.
And the statistics tell better than
words what the result of this policy
of allowing the packers to import
foreigners ignorant of American con
ditions and their rights as residents
of America has been.
The average wages of the men "em
ployes in the stockyards is $8 a week;
the average wages of the women is
still lower.
By the casual labor system install
ed Ijy the packers, which no Amer
ican would submit to, no stockyards
employe knows how' much time he'
will be allowed to work in any week;
nor how much money he will draw at
the end of the week.
There are 60,000 Polish men and
women working in the yards. These
live "Back o' the Yards," and, with
their dependents, form a Polish city
of 250,000, the largest Polish cqth
munity in the world outside of War
saw, and Lodz.
And the conditions In that com
munity, in that city of 250,000 within
a city are almost beyond belief.
The majority of the houses are
tenements. The tenement fiats are
'tr.rlwo fo tbr rooms each. In
every, tenement flat there are living
besides the family renting the flat,
from two -to four men lodgers and
from two to four womeillodgers;
The sanitary ' provisions in the
tenements are unspeakable. 'The re
sult of them is riatural.
One-third of all the deaths in Pack
ingtown are from tuberculosis".
There is no community in the Unit-
ed States where womanhood is held
more, cheaply than in Packlngtowh.
How can it be otherwise with con
ditions as they are '"Back o' the
Yards?"
The packers prefer young girl im
migrants to work in the yards. Their
allies of the shipping trust see that
they are duly supplied.
The young girls are' brought here,
dreaming of a great, new country
and a great, new freedom, and they
are dumped "Back o the Yards."
There, making a living becomes
the prime necessity, and morality a
luxury. " (
It is hot the immigrants who are
imported by the packers who are un
desirable aliens.
For these immigrants, vthese, men
and wome'ri and boys and girls of
Southeastern Europe are the bone
and sinew of Europe, they are the
same stock as are the Bulgars who
whipped Turkey to her knees.
It js what the packers make of
these clean-living, heltKy-rhinded
peasants that causes the crying need
of a limitation of immigration.
-rOtO
BASEBALL WEATHER
American League.
New York at Philadelphia Clear.
Boston at Washington Clear.
St Louis, at GievelandV-Clear.
Detroit at Chicago Clear.
National League".
Philadelphia at New York Clear.
Brodklyn at-BostonClear.
Chicagb at Cincinnati Clear: .
Pittsburgh at SL Ebuis-Clear;